Beyoncé Studies to Jedi training: 11 pop-culture university courses

Now that students can take a course on rapper Kendrick Lamar, we take a look
at 11 university courses that sound too fun to be real

Singer BeyoncéPhoto: BBC

By Mia Georgiou and Rebecca Hawkes

10:30AM BST 26 Aug 2014

Last month, reports emerged that students at the University of Virginia in America can now take a four-week course studying the HBO drama series Game of Thrones. As the news breaks that English students at Georgia Regents University, also in the US, are to studythe debut album of rapper Kendrick Lamar, we take a look at 11 other courses with modules inspired by popular culture. They might not command the same respect as a degree in Medicine or Law, but don't write them off too quickly – some of them are just cunning ruses by desperate educators to persuade their charges to learn something important about sociology, philosophy, or, most ambitious of all, linguistic theory.

English lecturer Adam Diehl uses the rappers first album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, as the centrepiece of his English composition course. Diehl says that Lamar's work demonstrates a remarkable “complexity of storytelling,” adding that rapper is essentially the “James Joyce of hip-hop.” His students are probably just relieved they don't have to read Ulysses.

David Beckham studies at Staffordshire University, UK

Sadly for fans of the Beckham torso, this module doesn’t just involve looking at pictures of the footballer’s latest H&M campaign. The course, which is part of the university’s Media, Sports and Culture degree, explores some of the sociological implications behind society’s obsession with footballers. Course-founder Prof. Ellis Cashmore said in 2008: “We do have to concede that Beckham occupies a lot of our attention today. He's the object of a great many fantasies." Indeed.

This course explores the history, significance and representation of the zombie in horror and fantasy texts. Forget "serious" degrees. When the zombie apocalypse hits, these are the graduates we’re going to need.

Philosophy of Star Trek, at Georgetown University, Washington, US

“Star Trek is very philosophical. What better way, then, to do philosophy, but to watch Star Trek, read philosophy and hash it all out in class?” It’s hard to argue with this statement from the team behind this course at Georgetown. Philosophical Trekkies who’ve missed out on a place at Georgetown will be relieved to know that Indiana University offers a similar course, in Star Trek and Religion.

Harry Potter and The Age of Illusion, at the University of Durham, UK

One of the listed aims of this module offered by Durham's Education department is to: “consider the relevance of Harry Potter to the education system in the twenty-first century.” (Presumably, this means conducting some serious investigations into why British schools aren’t more like Hogwarts.) Coincidentally, scenes for the first two Harry Potter films were filmed at Durham’s cathedral.

Star Wars (Picture: Alamy)

Feel the Force: How to Train in the Jedi Way at Queen’s University, Belfast

This open learning course at QUB achieved press attention back in 2008 for offering aspiring Jedi Knights a chance to learn some of the psychology behind the Jedi mind-control tricks seen in the Star Wars films. Students on the course were able to explore some of the wider philosophical issues within the Star Wars universe, before graduating and presumably becoming fully fledged Jedi Knights. Bringing your own replica light sabre to class was apparently encouraged.

Arguing with Judge Judy at the University of California, Berkeley, US

Sadly, this course at California's Berkeley, which ran between 2009 and 2010, wasn’t a fun substitute for a Law degree. Instead, it aimed to teach students learning debate/rhetoric techniques about how to spot some of the illogical arguments and popular logical fallacies exhibited by plaintiffs on TV court shows. According to the course handbook, one of the key examples included on the course was a defendant who, when asked if he had hit his alleged victim, answered "If I'd hit him, he'd be dead."

Invented Languages: Klingon and beyond at the University of Texas, US

At the end of the day, is there really much difference between studying Klingon and studying French? Actually, yes, says the University of Texas (and the population of France). This course is less about learning to communicate with the famous Star Trek aliens, and more about using constructed languages to explore linguistic theory.

Lady Gaga (Picture:Rex Features)

Gaga for Gaga: Sex, Gender and Identity at the University of Virginia, US

As anyone who has ever done an Arts degree knows, all Arts students eventually end up having to study Freud, and spend a term or two writing about nothing but sex, gender and identity. And phalluses. This course at least attempts to jazz things up a bit by throwing the Bad Romance singer into the mix. Students get to watch Lady Gaga’s videos (yay!), listen to Lady Gaga’s music (yay!), and write essays about the singer’s influence on gender expression (boo!).

Politicising Beyoncé, at Rutgers University, New Jersey, US

Taught in the department of Women’s and Gender studies, this module explores how the singer’s music and career relate to American racial and sexual politics. Rumours that only single ladies can take the course are said to be unfounded.

The Beatles, Popular Music and Society at Liverpool Hope University, UK

This MA course explores the role the Beatles and their music play in constructing regional identities, and looks at “popular music as a discursive evocation of place.” (It’s probably just as well that the MA is actually based in Liverpool.) The prospectus doesn’t specify whether sing-alongs to Hey Jude and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds are a compulsory part of the degree. But we like to think they are.